Electric-motor car and system of mounting and wiring electrical apparatus thereon.



No. 730,251. G GIBBS 'PATENTED JUNE 9, 1903. ELECTRIC MOTOR CAR ANDS'YSTEM 01" MOUNTING A D WIRING ELECTRICAL APPARATUS THEREON.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 1, 1902. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETB-BHEET 1.

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No. 730,251. G GIBBS PATENTED Jf NB' 9, 1903. ELECTRIC MOTOR CAR ANDSIYSTEMIOP MOUNTING AND WIRING ELECTRICAL APPARATUS THERBON.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1, 1902. R0 IODEL'. 2 QHEETS-SHEET 2- UUUUUHU "II r v E UNITED STATES Patented June 9, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE,

GEORGE GIBBS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC-MOTOR CAR AND SYSTEM OF MOUNTING AND WiRING ELECTRICALAPPARATUS THEREON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,251, dated June 9,1903.

' Application filed December 1, 1902. Serial No. 133,313. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GIBBS, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Motor Carsand Systems of Mounting and lViring Electrical Apparatus Thereon, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved system of installingelectrical apparatus on electric-motor cars, and it concerns itself notonly with the proper mounting of the apparatus mentioned, but also withthe wiring of the car and the apparatus, the whole being designed toproperly protect the car itself and the electrical apparatus from fireor other dangers due tothe formation of electric arcs under conditionsas they now exist.

Insufficient attention has hitherto been paid to the proper wiring ofmotor-cars and the proper installation of the electrical apparatusgenerally from the standpoint of fire protection. It has been thoughtsufiicient to provide electrical connections without adequateregard tothe special dangers to which apparatus and cars of the kind in questionare subject. Consequently the apparatus has been mounted indifferentlyeither outside or inside the cars, and the wires have been run inwhatever way seemed most convenient, the problems involved being treatedmainly as problems relating to the proper support of the wires and theelectrical apparatus and of the proper electrical continuity andintegrity of the system and of compactness and convenience rather thanas problems involving the necessity for adequate protection of theapparatus and the car from the effects of accidental arcs orshort-circuiting. The practice thus described is dangerous on anymotor-car, but it becomes particularly dangerous when the motors and theamount of current required to operate them are large, requiringcorrespondinglylarge wires,circuit-breakers, fuses, &c., in order toconduct the needful amount of current. Accidental short circuits asbetween wires or adjoining metal work, the breakage of wires, looseconnections or defects in the controlling apparatus, and similar causeshave not infrequentlyresulted in the formation of arcs of large carryingcapacity and of considerable duration, as a consequence of which theelectrical wiring or apparatus has been injured or destroyed, and insome instances the car itself ,has been set on fire. Dangers of thischaracter are liable to arise even with the most careful attention tothe installation of the wiring and apparatus, and for this reason onefeature of my invention is concerned with the proper construction of thecar itself.

The remaining novel features of my invention reside in properly locatingthe apparatus and the Wires and properly installing, insulating, andprotecting them, with the ultimate view of protecting the cars as Well.

As to the location of the apparatus, including the wires, thecircuit-breakers, the fuses, and the like, I prefer to place themunderneath the car-body; and as to the installation, insulation, andprotection of the wires and apparatus, I cover them as far as possiblewith a sheathing or envelop of some good insulating and fire-protectingmaterial, such as transite, electrobeston, uralite, or other asbestoscompound, and separate them, with their covering, by an air-space fromall the inflammable or metal parts of the car, not only for the purposeof minimizing the danger of the are coming into contact with the woodenor metal portions of the car, but also in order to permit the arc to bedissipated without the concentration of its heat upon any one spot,which is a danger that always exists when the wiring is run close to theinflammable or metal parts of the car or is confined, say, within aninsulating-tube which itself rests against or close to such inflammableor metal portions.

I11 other words, I do not rely solely upon the use of a sheathing offire-resisting material to protect the car from the effects of an arewhen a wire is broken, knowing that a powerful electric are concentratedupon a'small portion of such a sheathing will eventually dissipate thefire-resisting material of the.

sheathing and en danger the neighboringparts of the car, but I providefor the dissipation of the arc and the further protection of the car bysurrounding the sheathing of fire-resisting material with a considerableair-space. Moreover, I place underneath the car-bottom, between it andthe wiring, a sheet of good fire-resisting 1naterial--such, for example,as

("w an that described above-this sheet being permanently attached to thecar-bottom and being secured, as far as possible, as an unbroken sheetunder the entire surface of the car. This sheet may be secured in anysuitable manner, as by nails or screws, to the car-sills, bridging, &c.I may construct the car with a double floor having its two partsseparated by a fire-resisting sheet, or I may place such a sheetdirectly under the floor of a car provided with a single flooring. Ineither case or Whatever the character of the floor may be I purposeproviding an air-space below the floor and also providing an inclosingsheet or lining of fire-resisting material below the car, as indicatedabove. inclosing sheet or lining to a car of metal,

such as steel, the purpose then being to pre-;

vent any arcing against the metallic portions of the car. 4

My invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a bottom view of an electricmotor car andthe electrical apparatus supported below the same. Fig. 2 is atransverse section of the car, taken along the lines 2 2 in Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a detail Viewillustrating a modification of the devices for protecting the wiring.Fig. 4 is a side elevation and part section of a portion of anelectric-motor car, and Fig. 5 is a detail view.

Referring to the drawings, 1 1 represent the side sills of a car-body.

2 and 3 represent the upper and lower portions, respectively, of theflooring of the car, and 4 represents a sheet of fire-resistingmaterialsuch as transite, asbestos, fire-felt, or the likeinterposedbetween the parts 2 and 3 of the flooring. If a single floor is used,the sheet 4 may be underneath the floor and directly on top of thesills.

Intermediate car-sills are shown at 5 5, and at 6 appears a suitablebridging extending from sill to sill,this bridging extending across thecar and being interrupted by the sills to which it is attached. To thisbridging, as shown in Fig. 2, are attached brackets or hangers 7 7 atintermediate portions of the bridging, other brackets, 8 8, beingsecured to the sills 1 1 and to one or more of the intermediate sills 55, the means of attachment being in each case bolts, lipping, or both,or other suitable fastening devices. Such bolts are shown at 10 40,while lipping devices are illustrated at 41 41.

To the bottom of the bridging-pieces and underneath the intermediatesills I secure a sheet 9 of transite or other good fire-resistingmaterial, forming, so far as possible, a complete and unbrokenprotecting sheathing underneath the entire car-body. IVherever thecar-wheels or other portions of the car structure or apparatus projectupward under the car too far to permit the sheet 9 to extend in astraight horizontal line under the car- Thus I may apply the body thesheet may be bent upward and secured to the lower part of the flooring,either directly or with interposed sheets of steel or firefelt, or both.This construction is illustrated in Fig. 5, where I show the upperportion 2 of the flooring separated from the lower portion 3 by a sheet4 of fire-resisting material, while underneath the lower portion aresheets 50 51, the former being a sheet of firefelt or similar materialand the latter a sheet of steel. The sheet 9 already described isarranged below the steel sheet 51, as shown. This arrangement may bevaried; but in any case it is desirable, and usually necessary, to bendupward the sheet 9 over the truck portion of the car.

The brackets '7 and 8 are adapted to support the electrical apparatuscarried by the car exclusive of the motors 3O 30, which are supported onthe trucks. The remaining electrical apparatus, however, including thecontroller 31, the resistances 32, and the circuit-breaker 33, togetherwith the wiring 34-,- are supported from the bottom of the car throughthe sills or the bridging-pieces by the brackets 7 and 8.

Referring more particularly to the wiring, as illustrated in Fig. 2, twoof the brackets or hangers 7 7 here support a suitable sheath ing 11,made of transite or other good fireresisting material and surroundingany required number of wires 12 12, leading to the electrical apparatus.In the instance illustrated the number of wires is eight, and thesheathing 11 is made in two corresponding halves or parts which whenproperly placed together leave openings for the reception of shapedpieces 13 13, preferably of the same material as the sheathing. Thewires 12 lie between the shaped pieces and the sheathing, as shown, andare thus protected from breakage by strong supports, and are alsothoroughly insulated and separated from the inflammable and metallicportions of the car frame or body. The sheathing 11 is attached to thesupporting-brackets by bolts 14 14 or by any other suitable means. Thewires 12 may be laid in bare or they may be wires which are alreadyprovided with the usual insulation.

In Fig. 3 I show somewhat-different means for protecting and insulatingthe wires 12. Here the sheathing 11 is formed into corru gated sheetswith an intermediate straight sheet of insulation. The wires are held inpairs on opposite sides of the straight sheet and between the same andthe rising or retreating portions of the corrugated sheets.

Other forms and configurations of the sheathing and the cores may beadopted without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It will be observed that the described mounting of the electric wires issuch as to leave a free air-space around the wires and the sheathing. Itwill also be seen that the described structure furnishes a strongsupport for the wires and to a great extent removes the danger of thewires being ruptured under ordinary conditions.

In general the controller, the resistances, the circuit-breaker, and thewiring are mounted free from the car-body, by which I mean that there isan air-space between the apparatus and the wiring on the one hand andthe inflammable and metal portions of the car on the other. Naturallythe advantages of this arrangement would exist, only in a lesseneddegree, if one or more of the elements named were mounted close to thecar-flooring or on the car-body, provided some of them are mounted free,as described. For example, if the controller were mounted in its usualposition on the car-platform or at the end of the car, while the wiringand the rest of the apparatus were mounted as herein described or insome equivalent way, the spirit of my invention would still reside in anarrangement of that kind.

I prefer to mount the controller 31 on brackets 7 and S, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2, a similar mounting being provided for the resistances32. Moreover, a similar style of mounting may be assumed for thecircuitbreaker 33, and it is therefore not thought necessary toillustrate specifically the mounting of the circuit-breaker.

As has already been explained, the motors may be mounted on thecar-trucks in any preferred way.

lVhen the controller is located underneath the car, means will beprovided on the carplatform for operating it either through amaster-controller or some mechanical system of transmission. This willbe understood without special illustration, as it is comprised inwell-known systems of multiple-unit operation.

I claim as my invention 1. A system of wiring for electric-motor cars,in which the wires arc incased in fireresisting envelops mountedunderneath the car and free from all inflammable and metal portions ofthe car.-

2. An electric-motor car, having the electric wires below the floor ofthe car, and having the floor made in two parts in different horizontalplanes, with a sheet of fire-resisting material interposed between theparts.

3. An electric-motor car, having the electric wires mounted below thefloor thereof, and supporting a sheet of insulating material between thewires and the floor-bottom, the relations between the insulating-sheetand the wires and their covering being such that there is a freeair-space between them.

4. An electric-motor car, having hangers or brackets depending below thesame, a fireresisting and protecting sheathing supported by the saidhangers or brackets, in combination with electric wires running throughthe said sheathing, and supported thereby.

5. An electric-motor car, having hangers or brackets depending below thesame, a fireresisting and protecting sheathing supported by the saidhangers or brackets, in combination with electric wires running throughthe said sheathing, and supported thereby, the lo cation of the wiresand the sheathing being such as to leave a free air-space around thesame.

6. An electric-motor car, having the electric motors mounted on thecar-trucks, and the resistance, mounted free under the car-floor,

the wiring connecting the motors and the resistances beingalso mountedfree from the inflammable and metal portions of the car.

'7. An electric-motor car, having the electric motors mounted on thecar-trucks, a circuit breaker and resistances, both mounted free underthe car floor or bottom, and electric wires connecting the electricalapparatus named, the said wiring being itself mounted free from theinflammable and metal portions of the car.

8. An electric-motor car, having the electric motors mounted 011 thecar-trucks,a controller for the said motors, a circuit-breaker andresistances, the said controller, circuit-breaker and resistances beingmounted free under the car floor or bottom, and the electric wiresconnecting the electrical apparatus being also mounted free from theinflammable and metal portions of the car.

-9. An electric-motor car, having the usual electrical apparatus and thewiring therefor,

supported below the car floor or bottom, both the wiring and theapparatus being mounted free from the inflammable and metal portions ofthe car.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York,this 29th day of November, A. D. 1902.

GEORGE GILES. Witnesses:

NVM. I-I. CAPEL, GEORGE H. STOCKBRIDGE.

